[HITLER'S CHILDREN screens Sunday March 17th at 1:30 pm and Wednesday March 20th at 7:00 pm at the Cleveland Museum of Art.]
Review by Pamela Zoslov
Review by Pamela Zoslov
The stories of Holocaust survivors are
by now familiar, but what of the children of the Nazis – the
offspring of notorious higher-ups in the murderous regime? Their
misfortune was to be born to men who killed or oversaw the killing of
tens of thousands of Jews and other victims of genocide. Sometimes
the killing was taking place directly outside their idyllic homes, as
with the father of Rainer Hoess, whose grandfather was Rudolf Hoess,
creator and commandant of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp (not to be confused with Hitler's Deputy Führer, Rudolf Hess). Rainer's
father played with toy cars made by Auschwitz prisoners, who were
tortured, murdered and incinerated just beyond the garden gate where
he played.
Rainer, the grandson, carries guilt
over the horrible acts committed by his grandfather, even though he
had nothing to do with it. He is one of five descendants of
prominent Nazis featured in Chanoch Zeevi's arresting documentary
HITLER'S CHILDREN.
All of the descendants articulately describe the feelings of guilt
and shame they have carried because of their lineage, and the ways
they have tried to deal with their ghastly legacies. Bettina Goering,
great-niece of Hermann Göring, a member of Hitler's inner circle who
ordered the extermination of European Jews, emigrated to a remote
part of New Mexico to try to leave behind her blood ties and the
negative associations of her German nationality. “I carry the
baggage of German society with me,” she says, and assuages her
occasional longing for her native culture with occasional home
gatherings devoted to German food, music and culture. Katrina
Himmler, great-niece of Nazi second-in-command Heinrich Himmler, says
that since World War II, it is a burden to be German. When abroad,
she doesn't speak German and is “thrilled” when mistaken for
Dutch or Swedish. She is married to an Israeli, who is descended from
Holocaust survivors, and admits that when they argue, sometimes their
family histories are brandished as weapons.
The adult children
describe the painful dissonance caused by the realization that their
parents, uncles or grandparents were guilty of horrendous crimes.
They loved their parents, were taught to honor them, and were largely
unaware of the crimes they committed. With atrocities of such
magnitude, forgiveness isn't an option.
Two of
the grown children dealt with their feelings by writing books. Ms.
Himmler wrote a family biography titled The Himmler
Brothers, and Niklas Frank, son
of Hans Frank, the Governor-General responsible for the ghettos and
concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Poland, wrote an excoriating
denunciation of his father, whom he calls “a typical German
monster.” He visits schools and gives honest, disturbing talks
about his father's murderous crimes and his sense of relief when his
father was hanged at Nuremberg. His anger is still fresh as he reads
a passage from his memoir, The Father: “I
had a happy childhood in that sea of blood.” Talking to students,
who sometimes look quite bored, is therapeutic for Niklas. “Each time, I
execute my parents anew.”
Monika
Goeth, daughter of Amon Goeth, did not comprehend her father's
prominent role in Holocaust atrocities until she saw the film
Schindler's List, and
saw a portrayal of Amon, the sadistic commandant of the Plaszów
Concentration Camp. Seeing the film sent her into a state of acute
shock. She thought, “These things couldn't have happened!” Not
that she hadn't had suspicions: when she was a child and asked too
many questions about whether her father killed Jews, her mother
whipped her severely with an electrical cable.
In a quietly
dramatic sequence, the film chronicles Rainer Hoess' journey by train
to visit Auschwitz. Accompanied by Israeli journalist Eldad Beck,
whose grandparents perished in the Holocaust, the younger Hoess
shares his fears about the visit and the possibility of being
“recognized” for his resemblance to his ancestor.
Israeli director
Zeevi elicits fascinating insights from the descendants and sheds
light on a previously unexplored corner of Holocaust history. 4 out of 4 stars.
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